From the early Italian adventurers who played an important role in the European expansion across the Atlantic to the political and business leaders of the 1990s, this book tells a dramatic story. The heart of the story is the mass migration that took place between 1880 and 1924, when a whole culture left its ancient roots to settle in the cities and towns of America.
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Prologue | ||
| The Song of the Emigrants | ||
| Pt. 1 | Italians Among the Colonizers | |
| Ch. 1 | The Colonial Period | 3 |
| Ch. 2 | Young America | 14 |
| Pt. 2 | The Land They Left | |
| Ch. 3 | Italy Before and After Unification | 31 |
| Ch. 4 | Saints and Legends to Live By | 41 |
| Ch. 5 | Italian Unity and the Southern Exodus | 54 |
| Pt. 3 | Emigration Fever | |
| Ch. 6 | To Leave or Not to Leave | 67 |
| Ch. 7 | Parting | 86 |
| Ch. 8 | Arrival | 109 |
| Pt. 4 | The Land The Came To | |
| Ch. 9 | Security in Tight Little Islands - The Early Days | 129 |
| Ch. 10 | Beyond the Biggest City | 149 |
| Ch. 11 | Mixing the Old and the New | 165 |
| Pt. 5 | New Roots Across the Nation | |
| Ch. 12 | Life in the South and West | 181 |
| Ch. 13 | New Orleans - Wops, Crime, and Lynchings | 200 |
| Ch. 14 | Identity - Character and Assimilation | 214 |
| Pt. 6 | Crime and Prejudice | |
| Ch. 15 | Crime Remembered | 241 |
| Pt. 7 | Work, Politics, and Divertimenti | |
| Ch. 16 | Before the Unions, 1900-1920 | 267 |
| Ch. 17 | The Road to Sacco and Vanzetti | 290 |
| Ch. 18 | Divertimenti - The Early Period | 307 |
| Pt. 8 | Assimilation | |
| Ch. 19 | Changing Images of Italian Americans | 325 |
| Ch. 20 | The Postwar Years - Organized Crime and Cultural Anger | 343 |
| Ch. 21 | The Writers Between Two Cultures: 1890-1960 | 352 |
| Ch. 22 | Scoring in the Sports World of America | 373 |
| Ch. 23 | Hollywood - and Show Business | 385 |
| Pt. 9 | Old Wine in New Bottles, 1940-1990 | |
| Ch. 24 | Politics and Business | 397 |
| Ch. 25 | Hollywood - The Later Period | 410 |
| Ch. 26 | The Writers: 1960-1990 | 422 |
| Ch. 27 | At Home and Uneasy in America | 451 |
| Epilogue | 459 | |
| Bibliography | 463 | |
| Index | 495 |
Anonymous
Posted April 29, 2011
As a 2nd Generation Italian-America, I found this book disappointing. It focused mostly on pro-union issues and way over did it on covering literature accomplishments. Even with that they were all over the place. the writing quality is of a new college student trying to write a history report before they had their first English Composition class.
The book covered little of Italian-American accomplishments during the two world wars and when they talked about sports they had no idea what they were talking about - (i.e. Joe Montana played for the San Francisco Giants). I am surprised they did not say he played with Barry Bonds.
They could not even get the politicians correct as they referred to Mario Coumo as a conservative politician. The political view of this book is heavily slanted to the left as the author appeared disappointed that the most prominent politicians of today are more conservative. There is also no doubt the author does not like the Catholic Church as they took numerous jabs at the church and the clergy.
The only good I got out of this book was a little Italian history and migration time frame. There has to be better reference to the Italian experience than this book.
Anonymous
Posted June 23, 2010
Learned so much about the history and experience of Italian Americans from this wonderful book. Helped to fill in the gaps in so many of the stories I've heard from family and friends. Very well researched and written, highly informative, yet able to hold the interest of the average reader. Found the overview of Italian history fascinating. It helps to shed light on why so many things are the way they are. And it is so good to read about Italian Americans as a people, as immigrants, and as something other than media-hyped gangsters and thugs. While this is nonfiction, it tells a great story in a very readable way. Highly recommended for all, but especially for Italian Americans, whose experiences have been sadly neglected, glossed over, and even ridiculed in the media and the history books.
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Overview
From the early Italian adventurers who played an important role in the European expansion across the Atlantic to the political and business leaders of the 1990s, this book tells a dramatic story. The heart of the story is the mass migration that took place between 1880 and 1924, when a whole culture left its ancient roots to settle in the cities and towns of America.